2022 was a year of great upheaval in the lives of women and girls, as extreme world events displaced women and girls by the millions, putting them directly into harm’s way, increasing their risk for gender-based violence and intensifying the need for global support.

After the sudden Russian invasion of Ukraine, VOICE, in conjunction with HIAS, urgently conducted a seven-part regional assessment of the global humanitarian response to the crisis, which identified the most serious failures of the humanitarian response, and the most pressing needs of women and girls inside and outside the country.  Details of this report can be found here.  The outcome of this assessment continues to guide our work in the region. We have full-time response teams in Ukraine, Romania, Poland, Moldova, Hungary, and Slovakia.

Before the Ukraine invasion, VOICE actively provided emergency crisis response in Afghanistan (along with our many other countries around the world). We worked to secure safe passage for Afghan women and girls who were known human rights defenders, including some of our own team members. We conducted safety workshops, created and disseminated safety protocols – including digital safety – for women- and girl-led organizations who remained in the country, and partnered with numerous NGOs to publish multiple policy statements pressuring world governments and the United Nations to address the dire and unmet safety needs of Afghan women and girls. This work continues.